This story contains explicit sexual activity between men. Please read no further if you are offended by such or if you are a minor. Any resemblance to actual persons or activities depicted is purely coincidental, but actual places and events are mentioned to add a sense of reality to the story.
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SAM CALDWELL'S FURTHER ADVENTURES
by Macout Mann
Chapter 16
A Very Good Year
Aris was right. In the next few days Sam receives seven telephone calls from guests at the Kanteres' party inquiring about portraits. Since his only immediate job is the illustration of "Skeleton of Steel," he agrees to talk to each of the seven. Commissions result totaling eighty thousand dollars. It will be a very good year.
Jim Hart brings Win back to school and finds time to get together with Sam before he returns to Sparta. Win and Ron have become classic fuck buddies since Ron's epiphany, but Win still finds ample opportunities to visit Sam, not only for sex, but because Sam has continued to mentor his "nephew" in every way he can. Sort of payback for all the things Jim did for him when he was a student.
Mason Jackson has become Win's best friend. Mason is straight, but they share many interests, including classical music, since Sam introduced Win to the symphony and Win became a fan.
Yoel Levi is to conduct "Carmina Burana" the last week in January. It is a favorite of Mason's, so Sam trades in his and Win's seats and gets three together and Mason joins them for the concert. They go back to Sam's place after the concert for drinks, and Merritt joins them, Sam having convinced Merritt to behave himself, since Mason's not going to be interested in being bedded. Sam doesn't even know if Mason knows Win is gay.
Mason's father is a supporter of the Minnesota Orchestra, so he and Merritt have a great deal to talk about. Once Mason and Win leave to drive back to Tech, however, Merritt's propriety vanishes, and he feasts on Sam's tasty wiener. Sam is more than happy to let him.
February Sam has to finish the drawings for Curt Abramson's novel. The final illustrations are to be of a fistfight between Guy and the worker who is trying to bring down the skyscraper. The fight takes place on top of the building's steel frame and ends with Guy knocking the villain off balance and his falling to his death. One picture is of the "knockout punch," and the very last picture in the novel is similar to the first one except it's from the reverse angle, Guy looking down from the top of the building toward the body of his victim.
Sam needs to revisit the construction site to take some photographs and get an idea of how a fight at the top of a high rise would look. Josh is away at college, so his father takes the opportunity to escort Sam and at the same time make an inspection.
"My son, Josh, was very impressed with you," Mr. London said. "Told me you worked construction when you were a student."
"Yes, but nothing like this," Sam replies. "I was very impressed with Josh too. What's he studying?
"Political Science," his father answers. "But I expect he'll do an MBA after graduation."
"That seems to be `the thing' these days," Sam grins.
"I think it's a bunch of shit, if you'll pardon the expression," London responds. "I built my business with nothing but sweat and will power. Picked up what I needed to know through experience."
The comment led Sam to tell London about David and his hopes for him.
"I'd love to give the kid a job," London says, "but I could never pay him enough to support a mother and a sister."
He is, however, able to give Sam a number of ideas about how the fight might be portrayed. "I've seen a few myself," he boasts.
Sam takes a number of pictures he thinks will be useful. He also asks to be remembered to Josh.
In March, Sam turns his attention back to David. Sam's mother thinks it's a waste of his money to keep employing the boy, as much as she has grown to like him. She can take care of herself, she tells him. And six months is what he and David had agreed to.
Sam proposes to come to Columbus to work out a strategy with David, so he might get a better position, one that will both advance his opportunities and also support his family. David asks to come to Atlanta instead.
One of Sam's wealthy tricks, back when he was hustling with Merritt, told him about a unique way to get a job. "First," he had said, "find the name of the top man in the company and write to him personally. He will always know what personnel needs will be in the near term, and he can direct your inquiry to the right place. Also, if your letter is forwarded to a subordinate from him, it will get immediate consideration.
"Second, don't send a resume. Write a one-page personal letter on monarch sized stationary, so that it doesn't get lost among all the number ten envelopes.
"Third, emphasize deeds you have done. That's what employers are interested in. Start with a deed, then list others, and finally ask for an interview."
Sam found early on that the method worked, when he was first trying to get illustrating jobs. So he and David work on a "broadcast letter." It begins,
"Immediately after graduation from high school, I was hired
to assist the grieving mother of my employer soon after her
husband died. I managed her household for six months, until
she recovered.
"You may be interested in someone like me. Here are some
other things I did:
They then list particular tasks that David has accomplished, from grocery shopping to arranging doctor's appointments to calling a repairmen to fix the washing machine. The list stresses that David has been trusted with the handling of money. Then the letter ends,
"I will be happy to give you more information in a
personal interview."
At the Atlanta Public Library Sam and David select a group of businesses from the Columbus Yellow Pages that they think might be interested, check sources for the names of their CEOs, and prepare a copy of the letter for each.
Before David returns to Columbus to mail the letters, Sam introduces him to Win, and the three of them spent a couple of evenings enjoying each other. The two boys become instant buddies.
David again says how much he wishes he could live in Atlanta. He also says he wishes he could go back to school. He has realized he doesn't have much of a future even if he gets a steady job. Sam tells him what Mr. London had said, but he also starts to think.
When David gets back to Columbus, he mails the letters. He gets ten interviews, and five job offers. The best is for ten dollars an hour. Sam counsels him to put off accepting as long as he can.
Sam has contacted the Hon. Jack Hardaway, a member of the symphony board and the wealthy business man son of a British Lord.
When Sam was in college and first came to Atlanta to hustle—that is be a call boy—with Merritt, Hardaway was one of Merritt's tricks. Sam had watched him fuck Merritt, and that first time Jack had watched Merritt fuck Sam. The relationship had progressed to profitable three-ways, and even now, when Sam on occasion had the yen to sell his ass, Jack Hardaway was one of the first guys Sam called on.
Sam had told the Hon. Mr. Hardaway that he had sent him a copy of a letter from a David Williams. When he received it, would he please call Sam?
When he received the call, "I am the employer David is talking about," Sam had said,.
"The boy's got a good spiel," Jack had said, "but what does that have to do with me? He can't be a registered representative, now can he?"
"No but he can be useful," Sam had replied. He then explained the whole situation. "Dave needs to support his mother and sister. He does want to live in Atlanta. He does want to further his education. I do want to help him.
"He will need to have a day job paying fifteen to twenty dollars an hour in order to live in Atlanta and still support his family. He can go to school at night. He can also continue to supplement his income with his dick and his ass. You can find him a job, I'm sure. And you and some of your buddies can help `in other ways.'"
"I would like to meet the young man," Jack had answered.
Two days later the meeting takes place. David has been well coached for his audition, and Hardaway is very impressed not only by David's sexual prowess but by his general demeanor. David is hired as a courier for the Hardaway enterprises at sixteen dollars an hour. His duties will involve transporting sensitive documents from one of its offices to another. He will be given a company car. He will also be expected to perform at much higher under-the-counter rates for Mr. Hardaway and a group of his friends who have permanently rented a hotel room near Lenox Square for "business purposes."
Sam helps David find a clean but inexpensive efficiency apartment on the near north side. He is enrolled in night classes at Georgia State which will begin with the summer term. He and his family are overjoyed. So is Win.
Toward the end of March, Sam receives a telephone call. "Mr. Caldwell, this is Josh London. I'm home for Spring break, and Dad told me he'd seen you and that you'd sent your regards. I was wondering if maybe we could meet for a cup of coffee or something."
"Maybe for something stronger than coffee, if you're up for it," Sam responds. "I'd love to see you, Josh. Why don't we meet at my place." They agree to meet the following afternoon.
"Thanks for agreeing to see me," Josh begins. "It was really sort of brazen of me to call you."
"Not at all," Sam says. "I really enjoyed meeting you before, and would like to hear what you've been up to. Can I fix you a drink?"
Josh considers asking for beer, but considering the posh surroundings, requests Scotch and Soda. Sam, of course, mixes himself a Martini.
"So what you been up to?" Sam asks again.
"Not much. Tuscaloosa's not as laid back a place as I'd hoped. You gotta go to Birmingham to find any action. So I've mostly been studying.
"Dad's happy, though. My grades are damned good."
"I gathered that he came up the hard way," Sam says. He'd never known that Josh was at the University of Alabama. Not that it mattered.
"Oh yeah," Josh replies. "He never talks about it--in the sense of "I had to walk to school in snow up to my ass--but he had it rough. I think he knows I'm gay. But I get the feeling he don't care. Maybe that he's been there too."
Sam giggles. "A lot of construction guys like to mess around," he says.
"Don't I know it?" Josh laughs.
Sam sees the lust in his eyes, but for some reason he still doesn't respond in a way Josh craves.
"I really have appreciated the help you and your dad have given me," he says to change the subject.
"When is the book going to be published?" Joes asks.
"I think in June," Sam answers. "My part is over, except for getting the royalties," he laughs.
Suddenly the door chime sounds. It is David.
"Oh, Mr. Caldwell, I didn't realize you'd be busy," he says. "I'll come back later."
"No, come in," Sam responds, feeling that a prayer may have been answered. "I'd like you to meet Josh.
"This is Dave, a friend of mine from Columbus, where I'm from. I'm helping him get settled in Atlanta.
"Dave, this is Josh. He and his father have helped me on a project I've just finished."
They say, "It takes one to know one." Sam sees instant recognition of two guys hot for each other. They rush to shake hands and probably would have groped each other, if Sam hadn't been looking on.
A half hour later, Sam says, "Use my bedroom, guys. No need to mess up another set of sheets."
Naked in Sam's bed, the boys are playing with each other, when David asks, "How long you and Sam been messing around?"
"We never have," Josh answers. "This is only the second time I've ever seen him."
"Well me and him fuck around about every chance we get, but I sometimes think he's more interested in helping me--like to get work and shit--than screwing me. He's one hard-to-figure motherfucker."
"I'd give anything if he'd get with me," Josh admits. "When I came here tonight, I was hoping...."
"Just play along," David snickers as he jumps out of bed.
Sam was reading the newspaper when a naked David appears. "We need your help, boss," he says. "Come tell us whose dick is bigger."
"There's a ruler over there in my desk," Sam responds.
"Nah!" David smirks. "You know what I'm talking about. Come and take a look."
Sam follows David into the bedroom. David jumps into bed next to Josh and says, "Now lean over and take a close look."
Sam is wearing a sweatshirt and workout pants; and as he leans over, David grabs the elastic waistband and pulls. "See, Josh," he cries, "he freeballs. Grab that thing!"
Josh's hand reaches for Sam's prong, and it responds.
"No....I," Sam cries out. Then, "Goddammit, Dave, I'm goanna have your ass for this!"
"It's right here waiting for you, after you've finished with Josh's," David laughs. "I know he wants you, and your dick's saying you want him."
"But...." Sam can't deny the truth of David's taunt.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Caldwell, if we...." Josh begins. He realizes the impropriety of what he and David have done.
"That's all right, Josh. David's right. At least about what my dick wants to do. Are you sure that's what you want too?"
"Ever since that day you found out I'm gay."
Sam steps out of his pants and pulls his sweatshirt over his head. He joins the boys in bed. He massages both their bodies, then takes Josh's shaft into his eager mouth. David takes over the job of masseur, enhancing both his companions' sexual ardency even more.
When Josh has dropped his load down Sam's gullet, David is ready with lube. There is no hesitancy.
"Oooough," Josh cries, as Sam penetrates him.
"Too big?" Sam whispers.
"No. Fuck me....now."
Afterward Josh admits that he's sucked and been sucked, but that Sam's was the first dick to pierce his ass. "I'm glad it was you. I'll buy your book and think of this afternoon every time I look at your pictures," he says.
Jim, Christian, and Vernon still visit Mike's Place occasionally, the redneck bar where Jim and the others first cemented their friendship. It is May. They are at a corner table, as the place is filling with construction workers, landscapers, and other assorted hard hats.
"I can't believe that Win is finishing his freshman year in college," Jim says.
"I can't believe that we've all been fuck buddies for....what is it? Fourteen years?" Vernon muses.
"No, fifteen," Christian says. "It was my first year at Sparta." Then he says, "Damn! That means it's been eleven years since Sam's graduation! We should have had a reunion party for him last June."
"Well let's do something this year," Jim says. "Eleven is better than ten. And for sure our friendships would've never been this thick if it wasn't for him."
"Let's do it," both the others said.